The invention of the present application relates to devices to safeguard the front of a PC, especially the doors, drive slots and buttons.
There have been many attempts to protect the front openings, doors, slots and buttons of home computers. One attempt involves the fastening of a door hinged to a frame which is fastened about the diskette drive slot, or disc drawer. The door opens so as to allow access to the slot or drawer. The door may have a safety latch, or lock, to safeguard the underlying slot or drawer. Other emergency measures undertaken by e.g. parents to protect the computer drives range from temporary duck tape blocks to blocking off the room that contains the computer. These methods lead to mess and inconvenience. In addition, computers are coming out with more and more drives. The CD drive drawer has been added to the diskette drive slot in most new computers. In addition, the newest computers often include a zip drive slot. As the number of drive slots and drawers increase, the configuration of the front panel changes to accommodate easy access to the drives.
In addition to adding drives to the computer front panel, the dimensions of the front panel may also change due to the reconfiguration of the PC tower to accommodate its bulk. Product changes to differentiate a new product line, or attract new customers, also occur. These constant changes can make door guard designs obsolete. Also, when a new computer is purchased, the guards securely fastened to the front panel of the old computer are difficult, if not impossible, to remove and secure to the new one.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a PC tower guard, which may be used with towers of various dimensions.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a PC tower guard, which may be reused, if desired, on a newer tower.
A universal guard to cover and protect the drive panel of a PC tower. The guard is made from a sheet of pliable material. It has a cutout profile made up of a) a generally rectangular central panel, with a bottom edge, a top edge, and two side edges, b) at least one side tab connected to the front panel along at least one side edge, c) a top tab connected to the front panel along the top edge, and having a narrower profile than the central panel, and d) shoulder portions above the side tab and wide of the front tab for fitting the guard to the drive panel. At least two adhesive fasteners are needed to fasten the guard to the tower. Preferably the side tabs have a narrower profile than the top tab, permitting the guard to be used xe2x80x9csidewaysxe2x80x9d. Thus the guard is able to be used on towers of varying dimensions.